Why are some stars much more massive than the Sun?
Quick Answer
Stars form from collapsing clouds of gas, and the final mass depends on how much material the protostar can gather before the cloud is blown apart. The most massive stars can end up more than 100 times the Sun’s mass.
The Full Story
Stars are born when cold molecular clouds collapse under gravity, but the collapse is messy and self-limiting. Radiation, winds, and jets from the growing protostar push gas away, so only some newborn stars keep accreting enough material to become very massive. In the Milky Way, most stars are small red dwarfs, while stars above about 8 solar masses are rare and short-lived. The record-setting upper limit is still debated, but some observed stars appear to exceed 100 solar masses and may have formed through mergers or unusually efficient accretion.
Key Facts
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